When a fire actually breaks out in a building with a plurality of rooms, which are connected with each other via corridors or staircases, a very grave danger arises not only from the fire itself, but also from the smoke, which rapidly spreads through the building. In this case the propagation of the smoke for one is a function of the structure of the building, but also of further causes, for example open doors and windows, or the effect of ventilating installations.
In order to obtain the greatest possible fire protection, it is already required in the planning phase for buildings to take suitable counter-measures for restricting the smoke propagation. Tests performed in existing buildings are very expensive in time and costs, so that the experience used in planning of buildings mostly is the result of actual catastrophic fires.
With the deployment of the fire department in case of a fire it is also of extreme importance to have knowledge regarding the propagation of smoke, in particular as to the effects of measures which have been taken, for example the breaking of windows or the airing, or respectively ventilation of areas of the building. Here, too, the actions of the fire department are based on the experiences gathered in previous fires, since realistic training, for example in high-rise buildings, can hardly be performed.
Up to now, only training installations of actual room size are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,818 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,707. However, the immense expenses of such installations appear to make them unsuitable for training purposes on a broad basis. The building model known from CH 402 473 is only used for illustration and has no fire-specific functions at all.